#Caste System

[nando161mando]

remember that brahminism is a form of colonialism too and savarnas can't just move past caste merely by losing their last names, supporting affirmative action, voting out modi/bjp or being allies to the oppressed generally: they have to give up the wealth they stole, and power over territories they have violently occupied.

they have to change their relationship with the oppressed materially, by actively transferring assets they have stolen from bahujan communities and the surpluses they have "earned" by enslaving them for centuries, and by resisting other savarnas who come in the way of this.

[beastalchemistva]

The full lore cards for the Caste System of the T'au Empire! Complete with auxiliary forces information!

You can see the lore video here for sit-and-relax lore absorbance: https://youtu.be/QEKLSpQbBAU

These beautiful pieces of art were made by the amazingly talented @rowscara! Check out her Etsy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/rowscara/?etsrc=sdt

[mauveliptint]

No queer liberation without annihilation of caste!

[incorrectmahabharatquotes]

I see so many hindutva wadis arguing that caste system is a foreign concept and hinduism only had the varna system. As if the varna system was fair? Also isn't caste derived from the varna system? Like brahmins and Kshatriyas became upper castes, vaishyas became obc and shudra were dalits?

I had the impression that the caste system was the documentation of people who already belonged to the varna system. Do correct me if I'm wrong.

It's a little more complicated than that. Currently, we live under the jaati(or jāti) system broadly speaking. When people talk about the caste system in modern India, it is this system superimposed on the varna system that they are referring to. Functionally, the caste system now is a hybrid of the two systems.

The Varna system and the Jaati System are both systems of social hierarchy.

As everyone is already aware, under the varna system, the society is divided into four categories(i.e. brahmins, kshatriyas, vaishyas and shudras) which are hierarchical in nature and mentioned in the various ancient religious texts. Crucially important to this system is the existence of a fifth category, the untouchables(I assume you're already aware of the practice of untouchability) and the outsiders(often termed as "mlechhas", which is now a derogatory xenophobic{and casteist!} slur coming back into popular use thanks to the resurgence of regressive ideas under hindutva politics). These are important to mention because the marginalization of these people was based on them being an out-group i.e. not part of the varna system. People claim the varnas were mutable based on a handful of examples in said texts but I would like to point out that those examples are said to be exceptions rather than the rule.

The Jaati System would be more familiar to you in terms of lived experience. Under this system, society is divided into socio-ethnic endogamous groups or communities and each of the groups have different socio-economic standing in society. The practice of endogamy(marriage limited to within a social group) is important to this system as there is emphasis on one's birth. This is why people say that intermarriage is the most significant step towards dismantling the entire system, but I digress. Prior to the colonization of India, these groups worked on a purely social basis of privilege and exclusion. Villages and cities were(and still are!) segregated based on these jatis. One's occupation was defined by their birth as long as they lived in their specific society.

I would like to emphasize that this system existed and thrived even before the colonisers ever came knocking on the subcontinent's doors. We can find mentions of the system in the historical accounts of both people of the subcontinent and travellers from outside. A study of people's DNA by some scholars claims that the endogamous groups can be traced back to as far as the Gupta Empire(mid 3rd century to mid 6th century CE).

The assertion that the caste system is a purely colonial fabrication is absurd. People point to the term "caste" as being of foreign origin but the term "jaati" already existed and was in use. "Caste" is just another way of referring to jaatis.

Now on to some legitimacy hidden in the nonsensical claims, in the 1901 census of the subcontinent, the British bureaucracy fit the various jatis under the broad classification of the four varnas. It was not a clean fit, leaving many in an awkward position of having been classified wrongly. This is their fault. Not the construction of the system but rather the wrongful categorisation of it.

Officially, there are over 3,000 castes and 25,000 sub-castes in India. Take these numbers with a grain of salt because there are many unregistered castes and sub-castes to this day fighting their own battles of legal recognition.

The castes do not cleanly map onto the varnas. There are many castes who are in the upper strata of the hierarchy in one region and the lower strata in different regions. The system is incredibly nuanced and complex and our current legal systems have not caught up to the sophistication required to deal with it because of the people in power's adamant insistence of ignoring the system simply because they profit off of the oppression of others.

I don't want to add to the miscategorization but I feel like I should correct you on the fact that broadly speaking shudras are classified more under OBCs. (Please keep in mind that this not a clear category and there can be some castes who are said to be shudra who can be other categories as well.) There's much to be said about that because there's no distinction made between the land owner castes and the landless castes. And no, the creamy layer is not a good marker either.

There are some castes(1,108 of them to be exact) who were listed as scheduled castes(SC) in the Constitution of India for affirmative action. This was done to socially reform the country and help those in the marginalized sections of society to gain social mobility. The hope was to remove caste discrimination. As we know, it wasn't successful because caste discrimination still exists and caste based violence is on the rise again.

The term dalit is a contemporary word for the untouchable castes who were and are subjected to despicable discrimination in society.

The reason that I say that we now function under a hybrid of the two systems is that the superimposition of the varna system over the jaati system has been accepted and in many cases, embraced by the people now. You will find many a "upper caste" people proudly flaunting their Brahmin or kshatriya identities. The varna system is now interlinked with the jaati or the caste system whether we like it or not.

The system is complicated and fucked. We should get rid of it, guys. And with your help, you can make that dream a reality.

-Mod S

[walks-the-ages]

let's play a game.

Biological Essentialism/Determinism can be summed up as, in the most simplified way, "what you are born as intrinsically determines your behavior and destiny".

"Gender Essentialism" uses the exact same framework but with a thin veneer of "trans inclusivity" slapped on top, to say that while your biology does not determine who you are, your gender identity does. Even before you realize you are trans or come out of the closet.

Under the framework of "Gender Essentialism" you're viewed as being X gender and somehow getting all of those 'benefits' from society even before you realize or come out as X gender.

So, some examples:

W is a member of a sentient Fantasy Race who is created to be Ontologically Evil. W being born into this Fantasy Race means that W is destined to be Evil and cruel no matter what and W and the rest of W's race will never ever be able to change their Evil ways.

X is assigned Female at birth. X is expected to be subservient, loyal to a single husband, and want to have children. X is expected to want these things from an early age and can and will be ostracized if X expressed any disinterest in these things or opposite behavior to the things expected of X's gender. (not wanting kids, not being interested in men, etc)

Y is assigned Male at birth. Y is expected to be fierce, strong, and to father many strong sons. Y is expected to want these things from an early age and can and will be ostracized if Y expresses any disinterest in these things or opposite behavior to the things expected of Y's gender. (being physically weak, not minding having daughters instead of sons, not being interested in women, etc)

Z is born into a strict caste system, and is born in the lowest caste. Z is expected to spend Z's whole life serving those 'better' than Z without recompense or complaint, with *no* possible avenue to advance in society due to the caste system.

This is inspired both by the wave of trans inclusive radical feminists who say that

"because trans men are of course men, that means they are inherently evil and oppressive and part of the patriarchy that seeks to tear trans women down."

and also because I've seen too many fantasy and scifi series way too comfortable with making Ontologically Evil Species and strictly enforced Caste Systems where everything is fine and dandy and everyone's happy with their lot in life as long as the ones with a caste system are the

"Beautiful, Pure and Good Elves, because as we all know, Happy Slaves aren't really Slaves, right? And if the Ruler has the Divine Right of Kings and all the little people think that's good, that makes it good, right?" (sarcasm).

If you've ever considering giving your fantasy or scifi race as 'caste' system that determins who does what based on their lineage or their body type and its apparently 'good and natural and everyone loves being their caste and wouldn't have it any other way'

....have you considered that Caste Systems have always been used as tools of oppression and discrimination and this is something real people face, and that we should not be writing "good caste systems" from the comfort of Western Society and perhaps consider the harm in romanticing these very real frameworks of systemic oppression?

Anyways, both in literature and real life:

do you agree that Biological Essentialism, Biological Determinism, and yes, "Trans-Inslusive Gender Essentialism" are ever correct and a good framework for viewing other people?

Or do you agree that this is an absolutely bullshit way to view individuals and that all it does is uphold systems of oppression, especially when it comes to queer people, people of color, disabled people, intersex people and more?

anyways just gonna leave you with this gif.

[ID: a gif from Pokemon the Movie 2000, showing Mew and Mewtwo floating over a battlefield, with Mewtwo having the realization "I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are." End ID]

[certified-yapper-guy]

Why were the Mughals (and British) able to rule over India for centuries?

The answer is the so called saviours of dharma, upper-caste hindus. A simple google search would literally list all the available historical sources that state this.

The truth is, they ruled for centuries because they didn’t disrupt the existing social structure

Upper-caste Hindus gladly submitted to the Mughal crown as long as they could keep exploiting the lower classes.

The reason so much land in northern India is still controlled by Rajputs and Jatts today is a direct result of the Mughal strategy of governance through regional alliances. The Mughals focused on securing tribute and allegiance rather than directly dismantling the existing social systems, which let these elites continue exploiting lower-caste and landless people.

Even though he was intolerant, Aurangzeb was the Mughal emperor who had the MOST Hindus serving in his court. Undeniably under him places of worship of other faiths were destroyed and he killed rebels, but guess what? Pretty much all of the well-known Hindu kings of India have all done the same throughout history.

And let’s not forget—throughout Indian history, it’s the upper castes who have betrayed the people. Even during the revolt of 1857, there was no real support from them.

This whole image of the upper castes being the "saviours" of dharma is a lie.

Even today, many of you sanghis are letting politicians use your religion to incite violence against minorities while the country falls apart. Social and economic inequality is killing people; infrastructure is crumbling; pollution is deadly; and there’s tax terrorism, but you let them justify all this in the name of faith. Just know, history will never forgive you for letting this happen, you will never be the 'heros' you claim to be.

[h0bg0blin-meat]

The kind of Vaishnavism that I like the most has to be the neo-Vaishnavite/Ekasarana Dharma movement in Assam led by Xrimonto Xonkordev (Srimanta Sankardev). Why? Cuz:

1. It is openly anti-caste/varna and anti-Brahminical Hinduism. (There are a few denominations that can be considered exceptions though)

2. Xonkordev translated the major Hindu scriptures and epics to Assamese and shared them openly to the people of the lower castes and marginalized groups.

3. Monastries (Xotros/Satras) that were set up by him are governed and controlled by non-Brahmin priests (Xotraadhikaris) (Dokkhinpat Xotro is probably an exception rn cuz as far as I'm aware it's a Brahmin Vaishnav who runs it currently. Not sure tho)

4. One of the denominations, the Kala Sanghati, is known for incorporating several tribal and socially oppressed groups into this neo-Vaishnavite movement. This denomination was one of the most vocally anti-monarchist groups and hence led the famous Moamoria rebellion against the Ahom royalty.

5. This last point is personal to Assamese culture mostly, to which this movement, and especially Xonkordev, contributed generously through his composed borgeets (devotional songs), ghuxas (poetic works, and Naam Ghuxa and Rotnovoli were composed by his pupil, Madhovdev), social revolution against casteism and consolidating all ethnicities and religions (including Islam) into his movement.

Now there were indeed several problematic practices in this movement here and there, as is the case of any religious movement, but it is still one of the most persisting unorthodox, non-Brahminical sects of Hinduism till date.

[correctopinionhaver]

[alpaca-clouds]

Okay, I want to say this here.

I do make a bit of extra money doing sensitivity reading - mainly for disability and queer stuff. And I recently got to sensitivity read a short story for an anthology. The good thing: the short story did really good in terms of the LGBTQ* stuff. But there was something in there, that bugged me. Now, I was technically just the sensitivity reader, but upon inquiring on the topic I learned there was nobody to read for this specific thing. Because while the LGBTQ* stuff in the short story was good, the research part of the story was not.

So, let me talk about this for a moment: The story was fantasy set during the Heike war in Japanese history. And reading it, it was fairly clear that the only information the writer had gotten about the time period came from some movies, not any book about the era.

It was noticable that the writer did not know how big of a deal the Heike story is for Japanese history. But it was also noticable that the author was very much not aware of another big thing: The fact that at this time in Japan there was a caste system and there were slaves. And there were rules of how the castes would interact with one another.

I am putting this here not because of this specific author, but because as someone who also reads fanfics on the regular, I notice that in a lot of fanfics about japanese media, there are a lot of folks that are not aware that in Japanese history there were often castes. Yes, the specifics of the castes did change throughout history, but even today there is an untouchable caste in Japanese society, that most people in the west are clearly not aware off.

I am not a scholar of Japanese history or anything. I am do not know everything about the history of the caste system. But... Please be aware that it is a thing that existed - and in some parts still survives to this day.

So, if you write a fanfic about a historical setting - or even some original work... Just keep in mind: In Japanese history there were castes, and there were slaves, and untouchables.

[davekat-sucks]

You make a really good point with the class thing and how that influences them a lot. Cerulean bloods are the second lowest ranking of the highblood part of the hemospectrum and the lowest level of aristocracy. They are able to be filthy stinking rich people but are still ranked lower than four other castes. Serkets are the type of people to steal or own valuable items because feel they MUST show off and flaunt their wealth as a necessity to ingrain their status in the minds of other whereas people like Meenah/The Condesce really can’t even feel such things. All they care about is gaining valuable items for their own self-satisfaction and personal amusement. Why do the opinions of all these lower more worthless castes matter to them in their eyes? They are nothing compared to their superior tyrian blood because to them they are at the top of the world. What comes out of the mouth or thoughts they can be able to read from a lower caste does not matter at all. And fuschias are just so rare and if they ever survive they just share a close blond anyways as seen with how Trizza Tethis is allowed to be heir even if she has a different sign. So if there is not killing other fuschia bloods it is nepotism.

It's also why Eridan killing Feferi is taken as more serious crime compared to Vriska kill Tavros and Gamzee killing Equius and Nepeta. Vriska and Gamzee killed trolls that were lower bloods and by assumption, it means they are not in the wrong because of their position. However, Eridan, as a second-highest blood killing the NUMBER ONE TOP, legally speaking, he is in the wrong and would get in much more trouble compared to the other two. Equius also states that feuds between purplebloods and violetbloods are rooted in tradition. It makes sense since despite the Grand Highblood having similar authoritative power like The Condesce to the point they run a planet-wide cult, they are only below the violetbloods. People fighting amongst each other because of status is a thing among trolls with fuchsiablood being the only one that gets a free pass on anything and everything they do.

[apollohour]

[mauveliptint]

speaking of problematic indian vocabulary…there’s a tamil word called “theetu” which translates to impurity and is commonly associated with menstruation but it’s also used to dehumanize dalits i.e if any dalit person touches something it becomes “theetu/impure” 🙃

indian feminism absolutely has to be anti-caste otherwise it means jackshit lol

I had no idea about this until I looked it up, and it's disgusting. It’s wild how deeply casteism and misogyny are woven into our society - once you start noticing it, everything feels problematic(because everything is).

And yes, I couldn’t agree more. If Indian feminism isn’t anti-caste, then what’s the point?

[dailyanarchistposts]

We have been debating tirelessly on different ways to abolish caste and other social evils which permeate the society that we have today. Raising voices against oppression, forming political parties and contesting in elections and also trying to force the government to form and implement policies which will give the Bahujans their fundamental rights. We have come a long way through decades of struggle in gaining rights, but the present political scenario of the country is not looking hopeful to the Bahujan aspirations for breaking away the shackles of caste.

With the diluting of labour laws and enabling state sanctioned exploitation of Bahujan labour, implementation of NEP which further marginalize the Bahujan children and extinguish their hopes of upward social and economic mobility, a proposed EIA which will rob the Bahujans and Adivasis of their land and livelihood, implementation of CAA and NRC to deprive the status of citizenship, privatization of key public utilities and destroying the already weakened public healthcare system, the government is openly showing its motives as a corporate stooge which dances to the whims of Adani, Ambani and other Brahmin Bania masters.

Armed with a grass roots organization like RSS and corporate funded media outlets, they have complete dominance in creating narratives they want the public to believe and they also have a well-oiled IT cell to spread fake news against any dissenters who dare to raise voice against them. Even though there are voices in the society which are raising against these government policies, there is a lack of grass root organization and common vision is sometimes lacking. This doesn’t mean that all the opposing forces against the fascist regime, which is murdering our democracy, should be centralized under one political entity. Instead it is time to think about exactly the opposite, the expansion of the idea of democracy from merely being a political tool used while casting vote once every 5 years to inculcating an idea of democracy in all aspects of life — political, social and economical and decentralization of all aspects of society.

Anarchism is a political philosophy which rejects all coercive and oppressive forms of hierarchy, be it caste, class, color, creed, clan, gender, age, orientation or country. It says that every system of power hierarchy should be scrutinized and made to justify its existence, and any system which fails to justify itself and is trampling the freedom of the individual will have to be abolished. The idea of questioning oppressive power structures is inherent to the idea of anarchism. It prohibits a system where even a party or a few leaders decide on how the society will function. Instead it focuses on decentralizing power to local bodies and communities so that decisions are made at the lowest level possible, thus eliminating the concentration of power into a few hands. It also shares the view that people who are most impacted by policies and decisions are the ones who are most capable of making them.

Historically, humans have developed to live in societies which didn’t have the kind of huge inequalities as it exists today. There is an intrinsic instinct to cooperate and help each other which is visible when a disaster strikes or the self-organization that appears out of nowhere in organic movements against oppression. Solidarity and mutual aid are the foundations of an anarchist society. The “right to well-being” of all human beings, meaning “the possibility of living like human beings, and of bringing up children to be members of a society better than ours” (Kropotkin, 1892). Two of the examples of societies which function close to anarchist principles today are Zapatistas of Mexico (Nacional, 2002) and Rojava in Syria (Democracy, 2018). Extreme corruption, colonization and environmental exploitation forced the indigenous people of Mexico to form an autonomous region where people directly form communities and decide the policies. Similarly, the people of Rojava, battered by the civil war, have formed an autonomous region with direct democratic ambitions based on an anarchist and libertarian socialist ideology promoting decentralization, gender equality, environmental sustainability and pluralistic tolerance for religious, cultural and political diversity based on democratic confederalism. One of the principles of direct democracy is that there are no elected representatives for a fixed term, any member who is elected will just be a spokesperson of the community and can be withdrawn immediately if he goes against the decision taken by discussion and deliberations. The means of production will be owned by workers and run by worker councils. Conflict resolution mechanism and alternative systems of judiciary exists within the community run by the members. There won’t be police or other systems which grant power to one person or group to take away the life and liberty of an individual, rather power will be distributed equally or rotationally which is controlled by the community. During the current times of BLM protests all over the world, it is clear that the police institution is just a tool employed by the ruling and propertied class to control the lower class and there is mass class for defunding the police and transferring the resources to community welfare projects.

We need to look at how these communities organize themselves in the face of an oppressive regime and come up with innovative ways to decentralize and create institutions which we are brainwashed to assume will work only if they are centralized. Decentralized community gardens provide food for the community which is maintained by them. Systems of education, community defense, criminal justice systems, industry and healthcare can be decentralized and we need to focus our efforts in building such grassroot level communities which function along the principles solidarity and mutual aid. We already have systems of mutual aid in our communities, all we need to do is to transfer these tendencies to all the systems we live by.

The Indian social mentality of following a leader or waiting for a savior needs to change. Any system which can consolidate power in the hands of the few can change into authoritarianism. Even if the leaders are benevolent and have the will to serve the people, there are systems of coercion which exist in our society, where economic, political and social power resides in the hands of the few, that they will bind the leaders from doing their duty to the Bahujans. The leaders and parties we look up to keep failing and disappointing us time and again. Now, action needs to be taken directly at grass root level by the Bahujans by creating communities and networks of solidarity and mutual aid and practicing decision making and direct participatory democracy. The culture of outsourcing decision making to politicians or other ruling class needs to stop. This has to start at all sectors of industry, agriculture and services too, and also within family.

We can’t turn to the state for protection anymore as it the state apparatus which is being systematically abused by the ruling castes to exploit Bahujan labour to create their wealth. Along with the efforts to educate Bahujans through social media and other means to sensitize them of their exploitation, effort needs to be focused at the bottom most level to inculcate the habit of participatory democracy at individual, family and community levels, respecting the liberty of the individual. The fight for annihilation of caste cannot be won, unless all unjust power structures in the society cease to exist and power is decentralized and distributed to the people directly, where individuals themselves can organize and make decisions about their life without being coerced or exploited to create wealth for others.

References

Democracy, N. (2018, July 6 ). The Communes of Rojava: A Model In Societal Self Direction. Retrieved from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDnenjIdnnE

Kropotkin, P. (1892). The Conquest of Bread. Paris.

Nacional, E. Z. ( 2002). A Zapatista Response to “The EZLN Is NOT Anarchist”. Retrieved from The Anarchist Library: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/ejercito-zapatista-de-liberacion-nacional-a-zapatista-response-to-the-ezln-is-not-anarchist

[itsdappleagain]

1923, by the way ^

you should read caste by isabel wilkerson

[freefolksbtw]

one of the intresting notions i discovered is, psychological speaking, entities- individual or state, which become highly civilised tend to be more conscientious and hence disgust sensitive. this explains the exodus of jews in the country like germany which was ones considered to be well civilised.

what apparently happened is they did not become less civilised, but rather excessively civilised; which led to them being disgust sensitive and hence entering into the notion of purity and impurity.

also explains the hierarchical pyramid present in India, where notion of purity and impurity pertains, so much of civilization, and so much of conscientiousness, across such large landscape made us evolve our own multiple notions of purity and impurity due to high disgust sensitivity.

hence not all ruins of civilizations are due to lack of civilised nature, but rather excess of it.